DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

HEADQUARTERS

 8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD

FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA 22060-6221

March 08, 2018 

MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION 

SUBJECT: Approved Defense Logistics Management Standards (DLMS) Change (ADC)

1275, Clarifying the Use of Special Characters in DLMS Electronic Data 

Interchange (EDI) Transactions. 

We are forwarding the attached approved change to DLM 4000.25, Defense Logistics 

Management Standards, for implementation. This change is effective immediately. 

Addressees may direct questions to Ms. Sylvia Williams, e-mail: 

DLMSDataDictionary@dla.mil. All others must contact their Component designated Process 

Review Committee (PRC) representative available at: 

www.dla.mil/HQ/InformationOperations/DLMS/committees. 

HEIDI M. DAVEREDE

Director 

Enterprise Business Standards Office

Attachment

As stated

Distribution: 

Supply PRC 

Finance PRC 

Supply Discrepancy Reporting (SDR) PRC 

Joint Physical Inventory Working Group (JPIWG)

Joint Small Arms/Light Weapons Coordinating Group (JSALWCG)

cc:

ODASD (SCI)
Attachment, ADC 1275

Page 1

Attachment to ADC 1275

Clarifying the Use of Special Characters in DLMS EDI Transactions

1. ORIGINATING SERVICE/AGENCY AND POC INFORMATION:

a. Technical POC: Ms. Sylvia Williams, Enterprise Business Standards Office (EBSO), 

DLMSSupply@dla.mil

b. Functional POC: Ms. Sylvia Williams, EBSO, DLMSSupply@dla.mil

2. FUNCTIONAL AREAS, LOGISTICS AND TRANSACTION CHANGES:

a. Primary/Secondary Functional Area: Supply, Finance, Distribution

b. Logistics and Transaction Changes:

 Category  Category  Category

Billing Physical Inventory Contract Admin

Discrepancies / Deficiencies MILSTRAP DoDAAD

Serialization MILSTRIP MAPAD

Small Arms/Light Weapons MRA LMARS

pRFID Disposition ✔ DLM Publications

GFP DOD BRAC

3. REFERENCES:

a. X12.5 Interchange Control Structures (available to X12 members at www.x12.org)

b. Defense Logistics Manual (DLM) 4000.25 Defense Logistics Management Standards 

(DLMS), Volume 1, Supply Standards and Procedures

c. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange,(ASCII) Character Set 

http://asciiset.com/ 

4. APPROVED CHANGE(S): Green highlighting identifies substantive updates subsequent to 

staffing.

a. Brief Overview of Change: This change updates DLM 4000.25, Defense Logistics 

Management Standards (DLMS), to clarify which characters are and are not valid in DLMS EDI 

transactions.

b. Background: Recent revisions to some DLMS implementation conventions (ICs) caused 

some trading partners to request clarification regarding which characters senders may convey in X12-
Attachment, ADC 1275

Page 2

based DLMS EDI transactions, and under what circumstances receivers should consider those 

characters valid. 

(1) The X12 standard (X12.5 Interchange Control Structures—Reference 3.a.) defines 

the basic character set delineating the valid characters for use in an X12-compliant EDI data stream. 

The characters in the basic character set specified in X12 version/release 4010 are: 

Basic Character Set Character

Upper case letters A-Z

Digits 0-9

Space <space>

and Special Characters:

Exclamation Mark !

Double Quote “

Ampersand & 

Single Quote ‘

Open Parenthesis (

Close Parenthesis )

Asterisk *

Plus Sign +

Comma ,

Dash -

Period .

Forward Slash /

Colon :

Semi Colon ;

Question Mark ?

Equals sign =

In addition to the characters from the basic character set, trading partners may use characters from an 

extended character set upon mutual prior agreement. Characters in that extended character set are: 

Extended Character Set Character

Lower case letters a-z

Other Special Characters:

Percent Sign %
Attachment, ADC 1275

Page 3

Extended Character Set Character

At Sign @

Open Square Bracket [

Close Square Bracket ]

Underscore _

Open Bracket {

Close Bracket }

Back Slash \

Pipe (Vertical Bar) |

Less Than <

Greater Than >

Tilde ~

and National Characters:

Hash Sign #

Dollar Sign $

(2) Characters that the sender chooses to use as X12 delimiters (identified by the sender 

in the ISA segment of each transaction) may not appear in the data stream of the EDI transaction under 

any circumstances. 

(3) Additionally, because DLMS supports translations between X12-based and XMLbased DLMS transactions through the Defense Automatic Addressing System (DAAS), senders must 

not convey XML reserved characters in the data stream of X12-based DLMS transactions. XML 

reserved characters are defined by the World Wide Web Consortium XML Standard as follows: 

XML Reserved Characters Character

Quotation Mark “

Ampersand &

Apostrophe ‘

Less-than Sign <

Greater-than Sign >

(4) DOD defines some special characters (e.g., dash (-) and slash (/)) as valid for use in 

specific data element values (e.g., unique item identifiers). Because trading partners may legitimately 

convey these characters in their EDI data content, senders must not use these special characters as 

delimiters in DLMS transactions that may require the use of these characters in the transaction data. 

To avoid any possibility of this type of data collision, DLMS procedures do not allow the use of these 

DOD allowed special characters as delimiters in any X12-based DLMS transaction.

c. Approved Change in Detail: Update DLMS guidance to clarify which characters senders 

may convey in a DLMS transaction and clarify the specific circumstances under which senders may 
Attachment, ADC 1275

Page 4

validly convey those characters. Senders must not use XML reserved characters in data content and 

must not use characters in data content that are routinely used as delimiters.

d. Revisions to DLM 4000.25 Manuals: Update DLM 4000.25 Defense Logistics 

Management Standards (DLMS) (Reference 3.b.) Volume 1, Chapter 6 as shown in the enclosure. 

e. Transaction Flow: No change to any transaction flows. 

f. Alternatives: N/A

5. REASON FOR CHANGE: This change is required to clarify which characters senders may 

convey in X12-based DLMS EDI transactions, and under what circumstances it is valid to convey 

those characters.

6. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES:

a. Advantages: 

(1) Clarifies which characters senders may convey in X12-based DLMS transactions 

and under which circumstances those characters are valid, providing additional guidance to 

programmers and implementers of X12–based DLMS transactions. 

(2) Reduces the number of transactions that receivers will reject due to invalid 

characters in the X12–based DLMS data stream. 

b. Disadvantages: None

7. ESTIMATED TIME LINE/IMPLEMENTATION TARGET: This change does not affect

DLMS procedures (only clarifies the existing guidance); it is effective upon release. 

8. ESTIMATED SAVINGS/COST AVOIDANCE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPLEMENTATION 

OF THIS CHANGE: There is no cost avoidance dollar figure available, but this update will result in 

receivers rejecting fewer transactions due to invalid characters contained in the EDI data stream, which 

will reduce the amount of manual re-work required to fix and resend rejected transactions. 

9. IMPACT:

a. New DLMS Data Elements: None

b. Changes to DLMS Data Elements: None

c. Automated Information Systems (AIS): None

d. Defense Automatic Addressing System (DAAS): None

e. Non-DLM 4000.25 Series Publications: No known impacts

10. PDC 1275 RESPONSE/COMMENT TABLE:

Originator Response/Comment EBSO Response

USA (SDR) Concur without comment. Noted.
Attachment, ADC 1275

Page 5

Originator Response/Comment EBSO Response

USN (SPRC, SDR, 

JPIWG, FPRC)

Concur without comment. Noted.

USAF (SPRC, JPIWG) Concur without comment. Noted.

USAF (SDR) Concur without comment. Noted.

USMC Concur without comment. Noted.

USTRANSCOM Abstains. Noted.

DLA (SDR) Concur without comment. Noted.

DLA (Supply) Concur without comment. Noted.

DLA (JPIWG) Concur without comment. Noted.

DFAS Concur without comment. Noted.

GSA Concur without comment. Noted.

DAAS (SPRC) Concur with comment.

• Add hexadecimal 1D, 1F, 1C to the list of 

allowed characters, as they are the best choices 

from what the X12 standard suggests.

• Represent Newline as 0D 0A (hex value) for 

clarity.

• This change should give guidance on the 

preferred/recommended delimiters as outlined in 

the table below.

Comments 

accepted and 

incorporated.
Enclosure, ADC 1275

Page 1

Enclosure, DLM Revisions

Update DLM 4000.25 Defense Logistics Management Standards (DLMS) Volume 1, Chapter 6 as 

follows: 

Additions shown in red, bold, italicized font.

“C6.4.4.5. EDI fields and records are separated by delimiter characters. The delimiter for a 

field and the delimiter for a record are set externally by the Interchange Control Header (ISA) segment. 

This means, the EDI parser may not know what the delimiters will be until it has begun to parse the 

file. EDI handles this problem by making the first segment, ISA, fixed length and defining the 

delimiters in the ISA segment of the EDI interchange. In an actual interchange, ASCII Hexadecimal 

characters are used, a graphic representation is used for print examples.

C6.4.4.5.1. Delimiters. In ASC X12 EDI interchanges (Releases 4010 and 4030),

there are three delimiters. The delimiters cannot appear as a value in the business transaction; 

otherwise the syntax rule will fail.

C6.4.4.5.1.1. Data Element Separator. The first delimiter is the data element 

separator. This defines the delimiter between each field within the record. This character will likely 

be the most common character used for any given EDI file. 

C6.4.4.5.1.2. Component Element Separator. The second, and least commonly 

used, is the component element separator. ASC X12 supports the use of sub-elements in transactions 

employing a Composite data element such as in the Unit of Measure (MEA) and Reference (REF) 

segments. The component element separator delimits the sub-elements.

C6.4.4.5.1.3. Segment Terminator. Lastly, the segment terminator defines the 

end of each segment within the transaction.

C6.4.4.5.2. EDI Interchange and Delimiter Example. Figure C6.F4. shows an 

example of the EDI data in an interchange that includes the delimiters. 

Figure C6.F4. ASC X12 Delimiters

ISA*00* *00* *01*1515151515 *01*5151515151 

*041201*1217*U*00403*000032123*0*P*|*~

GS*CT*9988776655*1122334455*20041201*1217*128*X*004030~

ST*831*00128001~

BGN*00*88200001*20041201~

N9*BT*88200001~

TRN*1*88200001~

RCD*1*20*EA|2|1~

AMT*2*100000.00~

QTY*46*1~

SE*8*00128001~

GE*1*128~

IEA*1*000032123~

Data Element Separator = * (Asterisk). Defined in the fourth position of the ISA Segment 

Component Element Separator = | (Pipe (Vertical Bar)). Defined in the 3rd to last position of ISA segment

Segment Terminator = ~ (Tilde). First occurrence defines the segment termination
Enclosure, ADC 1275

Page 2

C6.4.4.6. Special Character Use in DLMS Transaction

C6.4.4.6.1. XML Reserved Characters. DLMS develops and publishes XML 

schemata (paragraph C6.5.) that are equivalent to the X12-based DLMS ICs. Because the W3C 

XML standard defines a number of reserved characters that senders may not convey in the XML 

data element values, senders of X12-based transactions also may not convey these characters in 

DLMS X12-based transactions as data element values, because they will result in errors if the X12-

based transactions are translated to XML. 

C6.4.4.6.2. DoD Allowed Special Characters. DoD has identified a number of 

special characters as valid for use in specific DoD data values, (e.g., the dash (-) and the slash (/) 

characters are valid in a unique item identifier). Because trading partners may legitimately convey 

these characters in their EDI data content, senders must not use these special characters as 

delimiters in DLMS transaction that may require the use of these characters in the transaction data. 

To avoid any possibility of this type of data collision, DLMS procedures do not allow the use of these 

DoD allowed special characters as X12 EDI delimiters in any DLMS transactions. Table C6.T3,

Special Characters Allowed as Delimiters in X12-based DLMS Transactions, lists the characters 

that are valid for use as X12 delimiters in DLMS transactions. Senders may choose delimiters from 

among this list and encode those delimiters in the ISA segment of the DLMS transactions they send. 

Table C6.T4, Preferred Special Characters as Delimiters for use in X12-based DLMS Transactions, 

lists the special characters that are preferred for use by type of delimiter.

C6.4.4.6.3. In addition to the above, see Volume 2, Chapter 17 for SDR special 

character exceptions/inclusions.

Table C6.T3 – Special Characters Allowed as Delimiters in X12-based DLMS Transactions

Authorized Characters Meaning

! Exclamation Mark

“ Double Quote

& Ampersand

‘ Single Quote

* Asterisk

: Colon

% Percent Sign

_ Underscore

{ Open Bracket

} Close Bracket

| Pipe (Vertical Bar)

< Less Than

> Greater Than

~ Tilde

^ Caret
Enclosure, ADC 1275

Page 3

Authorized Characters Meaning

1D (hex value) Group Separator1

1F (hex value) Unit Separator2

1C (hex value) File Separator3

0D 0A (hex value) Newline4 (Line Feed/Carriage Return)

Table C6.T4 – Preferred Special Characters as Delimiters in X12-based DLMS Transactions

Delimiter Type Preferred Character Meaning

Data Element Separator <gs> 1D (hex value) Group Separator

* Asterisk

~ Tilde

Component/Composite Element Separator <us> 1F (hex value) Unit Separator

: Colon

Segment Terminator <tr> 1C (hex value) File Separator

0D 0A (hex value) Newline (Line Feed/Carriage 

Return)

 1 Group Separator is an unprintable character; senders may use it only as a data element separator in X12 transactions.

2 Unit Separator is an unprintable character; senders may use it only as a component element separator.

3 File Separator is an unprintable character; senders may use it only as a segment terminator. 4 Newline is an unprintable character; senders may use it only as a segment terminator.